Company to move production to Lexington

RP Machine Enterprises Inc. has purchased the assets of Butler Rubber Products to give it a strong presence in the silicone covered wheels sector, according to RubberTimes.com.

RP Machine Enterprises Inc. has purchased the assets of Butler Rubber Products to give it a strong presence in the silicone covered wheels sector, according to RubberTimes.com.Butler Rubber's Guntersville, Ala., manufacturing plant, which was established by Sam Butler in 1967, will continue operating for the time being.However, production of its silicone and other products eventually will be moved from the factory to Fletcher Machinery's 100,000-square-foot plant in Lexington, N.C., said Kelvin Gantt, vice president of rubber products for Fletcher, a subsidiary of RP Machine. It has not been determined when the move will take place."Sam Butler decided to scale back his business after a hurricane hit his plant in early 2012, which allowed him to step back and consider retirement," said Rich Piselli, CEO of Fletcher Machinery. That ultimately led to the sale of Butler Rubber to Fletcher, he said.The transaction closed April 2. Financial details were not released.Butler Rubber, an industry leader in the production of high temperature silicone covered wheels, has been manufacturing and re-covering wheels for more than 35 years, he said.The company produces hot foil silicone rolls, hot foiling silicone wheels, thermal heat transfer hot stamping silicone, edge foiling wheels, custom molded hot stamp rubber products and rubber wheels.Fletcher offers a wide variety of services, including resurfacing rubber covered rollers, repairing journals and custom fabrication of new wheels and rollers, Gantt said.The firm custom manufactures numerous machines and parts for a variety of industries, including printing, woodworking, food processing and off-road/construction at its factory in Lexington, where it has a crew of about 52.